Welcome to an 'inch of difference'.
"This inch in which we live." Richard Neville, Oz, 1971.

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Still On The Merry-Go-Round

The original authors of the 1953 European Convention on Human Rights aren't the only ones who will be 'turning in their graves' at the way their good intentions have been subverted. When laws are lax and riddled with loop-holes it will always give those with an eye out for the main chance to work it to their own agenda. The Council of Europe was set up hastily after WW2 and its main aim was to lay down a Treaty which made it impossible for such carnage, torture, indignity and horrors to happen again. How far we've travelled now that our governments and public institutions have fallen to Cultural Marxism!

Got a cat? Feel insulted? Been bullied? Then get yourself a Human Rights lawyer, one of the many spawned by Matrix Chambers and Cherie Blair, and in one bound you will be free with your pockets loaded with cash into the bargain.

The European Union is signing up to the ECHR later this year and it is already a pre-requisite that any Member State must be a signatory in order to join the EU so, in some respects, they're behind the curve.

“This is a decisive step, paving the way to EU accession to the
European Convention of Human Rights. It will contribute to the creation
of a single European legal space, putting in place the missing link in
the European system of fundamental rights protection”. Jagland, Sec-Gen of the Council of Europe

Those commentators who continue to insist that there is no link between the EU and the ECHR are wrong, wrong, wrong and I'm rather tired of hearing it trotted out so frequently by those in the press/tv/radio who should know better unless, of course, their intention is to mislead or deceive.

And what to make of Theresa May? One day she's being touted as Prime Ministerial material and the next is being accused of 'disrespecting Parliament'. That's probably mild language. After all the hoo-ha of Abu Qatada and then announcing that the UK would opt out of 133 EU crime and security measures people seem surprised that what she said wasn't what she meant at all.

This is what Cameron's lauded 're-negotiations' will come down to: Our government has until November 2014 to confirm whether or not it will sign up to all the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty (see link in sidebar) - the opt-outs agreed to by the EU itself. It goes without saying that this is not re-negotiation, this is acquiescence. It can't be re-stated too often that the only way to re-negotiate with the EU is to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, after which we will have two years in which to negotiate.

Article 501. Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.

2.
A Member State which decides to withdraw shall notify the European
Council of its intention. In the light of the guidelines provided by the
European Council, the Union shall negotiate and conclude an agreement
with that State, setting out the arrangements for its withdrawal, taking
account of the framework for its future relationship with the Union.
That agreement shall be negotiated in accordance with Article 218(3) of
the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. It shall be
concluded on behalf of the Union by the Council, acting by a qualified
majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament.

3.
The Treaties shall cease to apply to the State in question from the
date of entry into force of the withdrawal agreement or, failing that,
two years after the notification referred to in paragraph 2, unless the
European Council, in agreement with the Member State concerned,
unanimously decides to extend this period.

4. For the purposes of
paragraphs 2 and 3, the member of the European Council or of the
Council representing the withdrawing Member State shall not participate
in the discussions of the European Council or Council or in decisions
concerning it.

A qualified majority shall be defined in
accordance with Article 238(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of
the European Union.

5. If a State which has withdrawn from the
Union asks to rejoin, its request shall be subject to the procedure
referred to in Article 49.

That all seems pretty clear and straight-forward to me. I wonder what part of it David Cameron doesn't understand?

Another who will be 'turning in his grave' is the Irish poet, Louis MacNeice:

It's no go my honey love, it's no go my poppet;
Work your hands from day to day, the winds will blow the profit.
The glass is falling hour by hour, the glass will fall for ever,
But if you break the bloody glass you won't hold up the weather.The Art of Europe

I think it's time to 'break the bloody glass' and see what happens; perhaps we can't 'hold up the weather' but we have to try. At every opportunity, vote for anyone except the LibLabCon.

UPDATE: Here's an article by Jacob Rees-Mogg on the subject of opt-ins:

"It is not as bold a move as it seems and it cannot accurately be called a repatriation of powers as nothing that was permanently ceded has been regained. More important is the question of opting back in to certain areas."

Hammy died; Sammy passed away from malnutrition; Suki was resurrected. Lucky ran away. Here's Lucky's brother, Chucky:"What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare? Click my wheel to feed me.

"Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away;Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air.You'd better watch out!There may be dogs aboutI looked over Jordan, and I've seenThings are not what they seem.

That's what you get for pretending the danger's not real.Meek and obedient you follow the leaderDown well trodden corridors into the valley of steel.What a surprise!A look of terminal shock in your eyes.Now things are really what they seem.No, this is not a bad dream.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not wantHe makes me down to lieThrough pastures green He leadeth me the silent waters by.With bright knives He releaseth my soul.He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places.He converteth me to lamb cutlets,For lo, He hath great power, and great hunger.When cometh the day we lowly ones,Through quiet reflection, and great dedicationMaster the art of Judo,Lo, we shall rise up,And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water.

Bleating and babbling we fell on his neck with a scream.Wave upon wave of demented avengersMarch cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream.

Have you heard the news?The dogs are dead!You better stay homeAnd do as you're told.Get out of the road if you want to grow old."

Reform and revolutionary change that is undertaken without the explicit consent of the people, can only be maintained through force and repression.